Best Automobile
Dealers—Domestic
Molle Automotive Group pulls onto the list this year for its first Best
of Business Kansas City award. It gains the Gold through the sale of quality
new and used vehicles with a focus on customer satisfaction. Whether it’s
for personal or commercial use, Molle claims to sell the vehicle you want
the way you want to buy. The Silver award is driven off the lot by three-time
gold-winner Bob Sight Lincoln Mercury. The company takes pride in its
hallmark customer satisfaction and quality service—constants since
1923. Jay Wolfe Automotive Group takes home the Bronze for the third year
running.
Best Automobile Dealers—Foreign
After a three-year hold on the silver, Baron BMW steps forward to take
the Gold. The dealer claims its staff is much like its cars: "high-performing,
dependable and driven to keep you happy." Memorable architecture
and favorable location could only help keep this dealership in the minds
of voting I-35 drivers. Aristocrat Motors, I-35 neighbor of Baron, brings
home the Silver and continues to be a constant favorite dealer for Jaguar,
Porsche, Land Rover and Mercedes buyers. The Bronze award goes to the
newcomer on the list, O’Neill Honda.
Best Bookstore
Whether they’re browsing the stacks, lounging in the reading chairs
or enjoying a cup of coffee, voters decided Barnes & Noble is the
best place for their book shopping. The Gold winner is the nation’s
largest bookseller with roughly 900 stores across 49 states under the
Barnes & Noble and B. Dalton names. Borders, of Ann Arbor, Mich.,
receives the Silver award. The local book dealer Rainy Day Books has been
a gathering place for creative ideas and thoughts as well as a voice for
literacy awareness since 1975. Founder Vivien Jennings’ philosophy
"bigger isn’t better, better is better" has earned Rainy
Day Books the Bronze.
Best Executive Offices
There are only two assets that the Lockton Companies recognize as shifting
the balance of the firm toward success—customers and associates.
Lockton rewards both with an elegant environment that includes the sweeping
staircase seen on the cover of Ingram’s April 2002 issue. Lockton’s
display of substance and style wins it the Gold for the quality of its
executive offices. Stowers Institute for Medical Research stands out visually
alongside Brush Creek. Its equally impressive interior, with state-of-the-art
facilities for its research teams and staff, wins Stowers Institute the
Silver. Nestled on Quality Hill in downtown Kansas City, DST Systems garners
the Bronze.
Best Florist
From Fairway, Kan., Matney Floral Design wins the Gold with a combination
of responsive service and creative design. The florist features stem flowers
to help you create your own bouquets, and it also specializes in weddings
and other large-scale events. Its stylish giftware and home-décor
items have tipped the scales for voters in this category. Trapp &
Company serves Kansas City’s floral desires from a Main Street location,
just east of Westport. The company returns to the Best of Business Kansas
City list to claim the Silver award. The Bronze is awarded to a newcomer
on the list, Tobler’s Flowers.
Best Gourmet Grocer
Walking into Dean & DeLuca at the corner of Roe Boulevard and 119th
Street can be a whirlwind for the senses. Shelves and display cases are
stocked with the finest selections of cheese and charcuterie, oil and
vinegar, packaged foods and house wares in the region. International ingredients
with a Midwestern twist have people raving about the gourmet grocer and
honoring it with the Gold. In 22 short years, Whole Foods Market has opened
133 stores across the country. Its Silver-winning focus is to make the
purest foods, unadulterated by synthetic ingredients, available to patrons.
The Better Cheddar, located on the Country Club Plaza and in Prairie Village,
earns the Bronze.
Best Jeweler
For over 90 years Tivol Jewels’ business has been solid as a rock
with its specialty in diamonds. It has gotten used to the Gold as well
and earns its fourth straight award. Helping make KC sparkle, Tivol can
be found on the Country Club and Hawthorne plazas. Meierotto’s Midwest
Jewelry steps ahead to regain its traditional Silver award this year,
while the Bronze is awarded to Mazzarese Fine Jewelry, a fourth-generation
family of jewelers located in Leawood, Kan.
Best Liquor Store
Gomer’s must have bottled up their best for Ingram’s readers,
who have again voted Gomer’s the Gold for the fourth year running.
Located in Parkville, midtown, South Kansas City and Lenexa, the company
brings the best in wine and spirits from around the globe. A quality staff
makes choosing the right drink for any occasion only a question away.
Berbiglia’s Wine & Spirits earns its third Silver. Among other
awards, its 13 locations have won various top-10 retail-chain awards and
top-10 champagne stores. Metcalf Discount Liquor in Olathe picks up the
Bronze.
Best Mobile Phone Service Provider
Back in 1899, when wireless would have meant by carrier pigeon, Brown
Telephone Company began what evolved into the fourth-largest wireless
service in the nation—Sprint PCS. The company built the wireless
network from the ground up by acquiring PCS wireless licenses in 29 major
trading areas in 1995. Kansas City’s choice for the Gold is as easy
to hear as the drop of a pin. Verizon Wireless is awarded the Silver.
Its "Can you hear me now?" campaign has got customers listening.
The honor of the Bronze falls to VoiceStream, which is gaining ground
in 20 of the top 25 wireless markets.
Best Men’s Apparel
Jumping up from bronze, Hall’s passes its competitors for top honors
and its first Gold award. Hall’s serves Kansas City with an excellent
selection from both the Country Club Plaza and the Crown Center locations.
Jack Henry Clothing has always been a cornerstone of men’s apparel
on the Country Club Plaza. Its tasteful environment and exceptional service
bring it the Silver. The Bronze award goes to the distinguished Brooks
Brothers, yet another Country Club Plaza establishment for men’s
wear.
Best Women’s Apparel
Readers have assigned the Gold to New York’s Saks Fifth Avenue this
year, bumping three-time winner Nordstrom off the list. Saks’ flagship
store opened in 1924 under the hand of Horace Saks and Bernard Gimble
and now employs 15,000 in 61 stores across 24 states. Talbots also steps
up a notch to take the Silver award. Its focus on misses, petites, women
and kids have spread its locations to 800 stores in the U.S., Canada and
the U.K. The award for the Bronze goes to the gold-winner in the men’s
category, Hall’s.
Best Office Equipment Dealer
Office Depot keeps its Gold a second year. The office-equipment retailer
covers the metropolitan area with nine stores and covers a total of nine
countries with 1,003 locations. The company has spread globally since
its beginning in 1986. IKON Office Solutions wins the Silver. The $5.3
billion international company serves eight countries and 600 locations
with the best-customized hardware and software solutions to meet businesses’
needs. Hotz Business Solutions—a long-time, downtown Kansas City,
family-owned firm—is a regular on this list and easily snags the
Bronze.